Children with ASD and savant abilities exhibit significantly less impaired ASD symptoms in the social, communication, and stereotyped behaviours and significantly better adaptive skills than those without savant abilities. Distinct ASD subgroup?

Larger head circumference associated w/enhanced "local" connectivity which provides detailed info. processing, and therefore, might be related to the appearance of savant abilities.

Pring and Hermelin (1993)

Exp. 1: remember more semantically primed targets or physically primed targets? See a row of 4 objects, 1 of which is the target. Savants didn't differ from regular artists - taking in meaning and representing targets in the brain in semantic categories.